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UA-139927741-1
Well, there seems little likelihood I shall be able to attend the Ashcan Issue 3 Launch, as I am presently in the grip of a rather severe Cold/Flu. Whatever its name, it is a nuisance; I was due to work tonight but this is going to be my second night calling in Sick. Still, it may been a chance to catch up of reading the Weekend newspapers (a luxury I rarely enjoy). For those of you who work Monday to Friday, you cannot begin to understand how I often wish I could savour the pleasure of sleeping in on a Saturday morning (after spending a late night Friday having listened to a band) and spending all Saturday morning (and part of the afternoon) reading the newspaper from cover to cover.... Ahh, yes, I am a shift worker, and this is just but a simple day dream...  Another Dream remains. That every Australian reads and knows the adventures of John Dixon's Air Hawk. I find that every bit of publicity helps in getting that message out there. A few months ago The Weekend Australian (in the August 6-7 2011 Edition) published a review of Floyd Gottfredson's Mickey Mouse presently being reprinted by Fantagraphics Books. It somewhat peeved me at the time that they could choose to review this book and not the Air Hawk that I has sent Cefn Ridout, their comic reviewer, some weeks earlier. I think I was annoyed, and wrote a Letter to the Editor expressing this annoyance, that they saw fit to review an American Book over a local product that I saw as being - modesty aside! - of equal if not greater merit. (Needless to say, the letter was not published.) However, I felt less aggrieved when I saw Cefn's assessment of Mandy Ord's Book Sensitive Creatures in this weekend's Weekend Australian. It was a well-written and favourable review, and I shall most likely pick up a copy when I see it in the bookstore; not because of Cefn's review, mind you, but because it is an Australian product and I am a sucker for supporting our local comics product. The benefit of the review is merely that it has alerted me to the fact that the book is out there. Otherwise, I would have been totally oblivious to it! I suppose this is the thing: for Air Hawk to be read and known by every Australian - as I feel it deserves to be - I have to get the message out there. Obviously, having a review in The Weekend Australian is no guarantee of sales: people are going to have to want to buy it before that happens...  So, it was a nice surprise to see a positive book review of John Dixon, Air Hawk and the Flying Doctor appearing in this quarter's Aero Australia magazine (Number 32, October - December 2011 Edition). Again, I am uncertain at this stage whether a positive book review translates into sales (the magazine, after all, has only been on the news-stands for a short while, so it is too early to tell); but at least it is alerting some Aussies that the book is out there! So, to all at Aero Australia, many Thanks for your kind words. Aother reason I was pleased with the contents of the review, was because of the accuracy of the content. Despite sending out Media Releases to Media Outlets, I have always been surprised at the number of factual errors that tend to creep into reporting. Case in point: the Redcliffe and Bayside Herald article reported that "Mr Dixon....[moved] to California where he eventually got married and had three children". I tend to let things like that ride these days; no point in perhaps biting the hand that feeds you, et cetera. Or should I? (John has two children: Andrew and Jaydi.)
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Comicoz is Nat Karmichael's publishing imprint. Nat is committed to preserving a permanent collection of Australian comic and comic strips. He feels that there is a need to recognise comics' contribution to and depiction of Australian culture.
Nat Karmichael.
Since 2011, Nat has self-published over twelve comic-related books and was Publisher-Editor of Oi Oi Oi! -- the last series of nationally-distributed comic books of original stories to appear on Australian newsstands. He is a member of the Australian Cartoonists Association and edited the Association's journal Inkspot for 14 issues from late 2015. For numerous years he was the Lead Judge in the Ledger of Honour Awards for the Comic Arts Awards of Australia (formerly the Ledgers). These days Nat dreams of retiring from his occupation as a Clinical Nurse in the Psychiatric Emergency Centre in Queensland's largest public hospital, so that he can spend more time with his long-suffering wife and their six children and fourteen grandchildren. And perhaps publish some more comic-related books. 
Nat by Charlotte
Comicoz acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay respects to elders, past, present, and emerging, and extend that respect to all First Nations peoples.
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Australian Publications since 1976:
1 x Poster 19 x comics (one a co-production with Cyclone Comics in 1988/9, one a co-production with Cowtown Comics in 2022) 2 x Paperback books 10 x Hardcover books All Australian!
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